Southeastern Louisiana University Athletics

Sam Taylor, a former Northwestern State standout, joined the Southeastern staff of coach Bobby Barbier in July of 2023. He serves as the Lions’ Director of Player Development.

In his first season, Taylor helped produce a squad that established a program single-season record for home runs and posted its highest batting average (.282) in eight seasons. During the North Oaks Health System Southland Conference Baseball Championship, the No. 6-seeded Lions picked up a pair of wins and advanced to the semifinal round.
 
Four SLU hitters produced double-figure home run totals – TJ Salvaggio (13), Parker Coley (12), Jude Hall (12) and Shea Thomas (10) – as the Lions blasted 86 home runs as a team, besting the previous program record by three.
 
Hall, Coley and Justin Williams would each earn Southland Conference Hitter of the Week honors during the season, while right-hander Brennan Stuprich was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Week twice.
 
Stuprich, Salvaggio and Thomas each earned first-team All-Conference honors while left-handed pitcher Larson Fabre was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year. Salvaggio and Thomas joined Rhett Rosevear and Jackson Rodriguez on the Southland’s All-Academic squad.
 
Taylor previously served as a scout for the Cleveland Indians organization and arrived in Hammond after a stint in private business as a medical device rep with Stryker.
 
As an infielder at Northwestern State (2018-19), Taylor was a two-time member of the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and an honorable mention for the 2019 Southland All-Conference squads. He led the team with a .311 batting average and stood second in hits (64) and stolen bases (12) as a senior. As a junior, he helped lead the Demons to a Southland Conference Tournament title and an NCAA Regional appearance in Corvallis, Oregon. He would go on to homer against host and eventual national champion Oregon State.
 
Taylor played two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where he earned NJCAA Academic All-American and All-MACJC Academic Team honors.
 
He was a multi-sport letterwinner in high school, playing baseball, basketball and football. Taylor helped lead New Hope (Miss.) HS to four straight state championship berths on the diamond and a pair of state titles.
 
A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Taylor earned his bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science from Northwestern State in the fall of 2019.